Renato Dulbecco

Renato Dulbecco was an Italian-American virologist who showed how certain viruses can transform cells and contribute to cancer. He shared the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Salvador Luria: Salvador Luria was an Italian-American microbiologist who helped establish modern bacterial genetics and trained Dulbecco. Luria supervised Dulbecco’s doctoral work and helped launch his career in the United States.
Viral oncogenesis: Viral oncogenesis is the process by which viral infection contributes to the development of cancer. It names the broad biological problem Dulbecco investigated through tumor-virus experiments.
Plaque assay: A plaque assay measures infectious virus by counting clear zones where viruses have destroyed cells in a cell layer. Dulbecco adapted plaque-based methods to quantify viruses that grow in animal cells.
University of Turin: The University of Turin is an Italian public university founded in 1404. Dulbecco studied medicine there and graduated in 1936.
1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: The 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine honored discoveries concerning the interaction between tumor viruses and genetic material. Dulbecco shared the award with David Baltimore and Howard Temin for work on tumor viruses.
Max Delbrück: Max Delbrück was a German-American physicist and biologist who co-founded the molecular biology of bacteriophages. At Caltech, Delbrück’s phage group shaped the research environment Dulbecco joined.
Cell transformation: Cell transformation is a stable change in a cell’s properties, often including altered growth and morphology. Dulbecco’s experiments examined how tumor viruses permanently changed the behavior of cultured cells.
Animal cell culture: Animal cell culture is the growth of animal cells outside an organism under controlled conditions. Cultured cells gave Dulbecco a controlled system for observing viral infection and transformation.
World War II: World War II was a global conflict fought from 1939 to 1945. Military service and resistance activity during the war interrupted Dulbecco’s medical career in Italy.
Oncogene: An oncogene is a gene whose activity can promote cancer when altered or improperly regulated. Tumor-virus research helped reveal that cancer can arise through specific genetic changes in cells.

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Rockefeller Institute for Medical ResearchRelated: He conducted foundational virus research at the institute.